Home is where the heart isn't <3 (OPEN)

[Ithica Pettineo]

Ithica bit his lip a little too hard. He winced as he tasted legion, and averted his gaze to the ground. He didn't remember a lot about his own mother, and his heart was hurting at the thought that any mother could be so... monstrous. To never even tell her son that she loved him? He hugged Ryan. "I love you. I mean.. in the not creepy stalky I met you just an hour ago freaky sort of way. In the Ithica way." He summarized, smiling crookedly.

"Then what?" He asked, hugging his knees to his chest. "I mean, you really don't have to tell me. But I'd like to know." Ithica shrugged. Maybe then Ryan punched her in the face and told her to start acting like a human instead of a devil. Or maybe she died. Or something equally satisfying.

[Ryan Alexander]

Ryan's eyes darted to the ground, he was scared. Could he really trust this guy not to hurt him? Not to turn on him once the truth was revealed?
"I don't want him to be like everybody else in my life; they leave once they find out the secret..." subconsciously he pulled his own hair, the pain centered him.
He calmed down once he heard the phrase that he never heard before in his life; "I love you." this made him calm, yet gave way for more tears to fall from his eyes.

It seemed an eternity before he could get the words out, before he pushed himself to answer the question given to him. "...then I told her I was gay"
he said, watching Ithica's reaction; fully expecting hatred to become etched in the gentle face.

"I told her; then she broke my arm; beat me to an inch of my life, and kicked me out of her house"

[Ithica Pettineo]

Ithica didn't really have time to react to Ryan's admission when he told him about what his mother did. He wiped the new tears off of Ryan's cheeks, smiling at the boy. "Your mother was wrong. So very wrong. And I'm sorry that people treat you like that, because it's not as though you've done anything to deserve it."

The demon was angry. It wasn't very often that he was, so it took him a moment to place the unfamiliar emotion. Not at Ryan, but his mother. She went against everything Ithica believed in. What if Ithica's own mother was like that? What if he met her, and she was disappointed with...just half of a demon?

The anger turned to panic, and that turned to his usual relaxed happiness as he looked back at Ryan. "I think you deserve another piece of candy."

[Ryan Alexander]

Ryan couldn't believe his ears at Ithica's words.

"I'm sorry that you've been treated like that"
"You haven't done anything to deserve it"


Ryan blinked as Ithica offered him a piece of candy; this reaction was everything BUT expected. He had expected violence, hatred, even yelling, but not...more kindness. "Wait...you're offering me more candy, that means that you still like me?" he asked the guy, confused.

"But I just told you something that should have made you hate me. It makes everybody hate me. Why did you not get angry at me?" he asked him.

[Ithica Pettineo]

Ithica was, in turn, confused as well. "Of course I still like you." He tilted his head. Why didn't he get angry? He stared at Ryan, trying to wrap his head around the ignorance and hatred this boy had been met with in the past.

He laid down on the ground next to his new friend. "Why would I hate you because of something that makes you...well, you?" Ithica was genuinely confused. Did it make everybody else hate Ryan? It was just another form of love, wasn't it?

Ithica pushed the jelly bean pack towards Ryan, his smile returning. "Do you really like the green ones? I'm kind of partial to red myself.." He was referring to when Ryan had picked out a green earlier. It occurred to him that he could have just been picking a random color.

[Ryan Alexander]

Ryan smiled in spite of himself, and sniffled. "He still likes me!" he thought happily to himself.
"I don't know...just, everybody else seems to hate me for it. It's only natural I assumed that you would be the same..." he said matter-of-factly, as he wiped his eyes with his arm. Yawning he ran his fingers through his hair, and looked back to Ithica, his new friend.
"Yeah..I love the green ones. They always remind me of happy things. Green as in the color of the sea, green as in the freshly mown grass. Green as in the color of flower stems..." he said thoughtfully as he took another green jelly bean.

Ryan stared over Ithica. "Thanks for not hating me...I couldn't stand it if another person did..."

[Ithica Pettineo]

Ithica shrugged, sitting back up. He shook his head, trying in vain to get all of the grass and dirt out. "It takes a lot for me not to like somebody. I can generally just think about the good qualities in people and that's enough for me." He smiled a little bit. Except for bad mothers. They made him want to slap them with frying pans until they repented.

He tilted his head at Ryan's reasoning. "I never thought about it like that." He took a green jelly bean and tried it. His nose twitched and his eye winced as he reluctantly swallowed it. "They don't taste very much like happy things." Ithica pouted, pulling out a red one to counteract the nasty green.

At Ryan's words of thanks, Ithica hugged him. "You're welcome. Rosie doesn't hate you either. And we won't ever hate you. Promise." He held out his pinky for a pinky promise. Ithica never broke promises, especially ones of the pinky variety. What kind of man would he be if he did?

[Ryan Alexander]

Ryan nodded as the guy spoke. He had no way of knowing it, nor did he understand it, he just felt that the guy was honest. That he meant the things he said. He watched as the guy tasted a green jelly bean and obviously didn't like it, it made him laugh.

Ryan tilted his head to the side curiously as he was hugged, and it made him feel warm and safe. Two things that he never thought he would ever feel, nor did he even knew them to be real feelings. "I don't know what to say..." and it was true. He was utterly speechless by Ithica's promise, he was reduced to mute.

"I didn't even think it was possible to be this nice and caring, I didn't believe it was real...I thought it only existed in fairytales. The whole kindness thing..." he thought to himself.
He pinky-promised with Ithica, and shook his head in disbelief, at how things were turning out.
His tried to speak, but he hadn't found his voice yet. He thought that if he were to speak; it would only end in more tears, except this time tears of joy. All he could do was return the hug that was given to him; every emotion he was feeling would be placed into that hug.

[Ithica Pettineo]

Ithica smiled. He tried to remember what his first hugs were like. But, as usual with his childhood, his memory (eidetic or not) failed him. "Why don't you know what to say?" He inquired. Surely Ryan had a friend before, maybe when he was younger or something.

Once Ryan had promised, he pulled back from the hug. He laid back down on the grass. He noticed tears in the boys eyes, and propped himself up on one elbow. "Are you okay?" Ithica was concerned. Maybe he had something wrong. Or maybe Ryan had... allergies or something.

He reached pathetically for the jelly bean bag and, it being just a fingertip length out of reach, sighed and gave up. "Is it weird to be able to know what people are feeling?" Ithica asked. "I know it's terrible to share their pain, but.. other times. Like if someone is happy, or nervous, or in love, or something. Is it weird to feel that but know it's not you experiencing it?"

[Ryan Alexander]

Ryan shook his head. "I don't know what to say, because I've never really had a friend before" he said, and immediately regretted saying it.
"Maybe he'll think I'm a geek or something..."

Ryan watched him reach for the jelly bean bag; and give up. Smirking, he reached for the bag and handed it to Ithica. As Ithica asked him the questions, he nodded. "Yeah... I mean I never really experienced any emotions like happiness or love, till I met you..because I can really feel the vibes coming off of you" he said, as he smiled.

Casually he held his hand out. "Want to feel what I'm feeling? I'm pretty sure I can show you.."

[Ithica Pettineo]

"You're my second friend that I didn't have to bring to life." Ithica smiled, picking out an orange jelly bean. For all his friendliness, Ithica seemed to lack the skill to turn an acquaintance into a friend. And Ryan seemed to not have the best luck in the world at it either.

It did make him happy that he was Ryan's first friend. He grinned, sitting up fully to hug his knees. "Oh.. do you want to tune my emotions down? I have to do that around my dad because he's an empath as well, and he says whenever I walk near him he gets slapped in the face by my happiness."

At the question, Ithica nodded. He took Ryan's hand and scooted his body closer so that his arm could rest. It wasn't that Ithica was lazy.. it.. well, okay. Ithica was kind of lazy. "I would like to know what you're feeling.."

[Ryan Alexander]

Ryan smiled. He grabbed Ithica's hand and focused so he didn't feel the guy's emotions. He was getting better at shielding, only a tiny bit. He could shield easier he thought, if he was comfortable around the person.
He began to slowly inject his feelings into Ithica. He poured so many different emotions at once, that it could be thought of as a shock that one human being could feel them all at the same time.

He sent how happy he was that he finally got a friend, how scared he was to lose his new friend. He sent over the hurt and sadness of his past, the pain he felt while he was getting abused. Lastly, he sent over a new smaller emotion, the care that he was feeling for Ithica, and the hope that he wouldn't be alone anymore.

[Ithica Pettineo]

(ooc; -coughs nervously- I didn't fall asleep.. >.>)

Ithica was barraged by emotions. Pain, happiness, sadness, worry, hope, many emotions Ithica hadn't experienced in a very long time. His thoughts were momentarily muddled; he tried in vain to get them in order. He swallowed the lump in his throat, determined not to cry in front of Ryan. What kind of demon cries?

He simply sat there, staring with raised eyebrows at Ryan. Ithica cleared his throat, averting his gaze so that he wouldn't have to maintain eye contact. Well, this was... a lot of emotions. A lot. He leaned over to put his head on Ryan's shoulder. "Why were you scared?" Ithica lifted his head up to watch Ryan. "Am I scaring you?"

With that, he raised his hands to feign them like claws, and bared his teeth playfully. "Because I am pretty fierce."

[Ryan Alexander]

(OOC: Haha it's okay. I disappeared for a day so we're even!)

Ryan nodded. "Maybe I sent over too much at once? Not everybody is a bag full of emotions like I am..." he thought to himself.

Ryan tried to put it in words, why he was scared. He didn't want to sound needy, nor did he want to scare Ithica away. He smiled as Ithica said he was fierce, because he could never picture someone like him being remotely scary.

"Well...I'm scared because you're the first friend I've ever had, and I don't want to lose you..." he said softly. He felt that honesty would be best in this situation, and he didn't want to lie to his new friend at any rate.

[Ithica Pettineo]

Ithica stopped baring his teeth and pouted a little. "Lose me? You won't lose me! Unless I get lost, or you get lost. Or if one of us dies. But I don't plan on dying until the ripe-old age of about two hundred." He nodded, laying down besides Ryan.

He took out a red jellybean, chewing on it thoughtfully. "Anyway, you're really cool. So why would I not want to be your friend?"